AUTUMN 2012 RETREAT AT ST. JOHN'S ABBEY, COLLEGEVILLE
October 5-7, 2012 “Incarnational Prayer: Connecting to God through Our Body”
A retreat sponsored by the Catholic Association for Lesbian and Gay Ministry to be held at St. John’s Abbey Guesthouse in Collegeville, MN, facilitated by Bob Pileggi
This retreat is for LGBT folks and their allies to connect to God and themselves through the body. Life has given us this great gift of a body. We can open more to God's love, acceptance and guidance by having a fuller experience of the body; by appreciating it. Various religious teachings might tell us to deny the body in order to get closer to God; this retreat will be healing from that idea - offering us renewed love for our body, self and God. Reconnect to your body in a compassionate way; feel rejuvenation; and open to more empowered self-expression. And in the process learn some simple spiritual practices that have foundations in most of the world's major religions (awareness, breathing, mindful movement, etc.) that you can use on your own at home and share with others.
This will be a safe, spiritual space for LGBT people and their allies. Held in a Christian retreat setting, participants need not be Christian - simply comfortable with that environment. We'll create a community of consciousness together, supporting one-another's journey into and through the body to the Divine.
The retreat leader, Bob Pileggi, loves facilitating connection through presence practices – so that we can feel more fully alive, empowered to express ourselves, and connect authentically with others.
Bob experiences and communicates love primarily through touch – something he did not perceive as welcome in his family as a child and teen. He grew up thinking there was something wrong with him. And as an obese child, he was unloving of his own body. He decided that life could be more enjoyable and that his body was a divine gift, and he started taking better care of it. Now Bob uses touch and conscious embodiment to inspire presence and gratitude for Life – in himself and others.
After twelve years of working for local and national non-profits related to spirituality and civil rights, Bob’s spiritual practice deepened and he was ordained an Interfaith minister. Now Bob produces and facilitates workshops, retreats, custom ceremonies and individual healing sessions with spiritual coaching; yoga; and body, energy and breath work. Bob is a certified yoga instructor, mindfulness practitioner and instructor, internationally certified breath-work practitioner, certified bodyworker, and ordained Interfaith minister. www.bobpileggi.info
Cost: Alone in a single room (one twin bed) $240 per person
Sharing a double room (two twin beds) $210 per person
CSB/SJU students/monks (no housing) $100 per person
To register on-line, go to the Abbey Guesthouse webpage: http://www.abbeyguesthouse.org
Or call Fr. Bob Pierson OSB at 320-363-3929 or e-mail rpierson@csbsju.edu